This invention relates to a hollow needle for use in the percutaneous fixation of a hollow organ, blood vessel, and so forth, in a mammal body, which has an apparatus for rendering it blunted.
Health care providers are at risk of exposure to blood-borne pathogens, including, for example, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, and the like. The risk of an accidental stick from a sharp object, such as a needle, exists in many medical procedures. One such procedure is gastropexy, in which a needle is used to pierce a patient's abdominal wall to place one or more fasteners in a patient's stomach. Such a needle must be sharp, so that it penetrates through the patent's skin and abdominal wall to the targeted hollow organ. A fastener, such as a “T-bar” fastener, carried at or near the tip of the needle, is desirably deployed by the needle and positioned against an inner wall of the stomach. A tensioning suture is connected to the fastener and, at an opposite end of the suture on the outer surface of the patient's body, the suture is desirably also connected to a suture holder which permits adjustment of the tension on the suture. In this manner, the stomach wall is more closely positioned to the outer surface of the patient's body, and stabilized in this position. Such a procedure is used to isolate a portion of a patient's stomach, so that a tissue opening or stoma may be created to permit placement of a feeding tube, and so forth.
After the fastener has been deployed by the needle, the needle still remains as a sharp hazard, in its position inside of the patient's stomach, as well as when it is removed therefrom. Therefore, there is a need to provide an apparatus which permits blunting of the needle after the fastener is positioned by the needle. Desirably, the needle may be blunted while it is in a position in the patient's stomach. Further, it is desirable that a health care provider easily detect whether the needle has been blunted once a safety apparatus has been activated. Once activated, the blunting safety apparatus desirably may not be deactivated, such that the needle is rendered a sharp hazard again. Finally, such a blunting safety apparatus is desirably activated by a single-handed technique, i.e., the hand holding a proximal end of the needle, thereby allowing the health care provider's hands to remain away from a sharp distal end of the needle during such activation of a safety blunting apparatus.